ace 41-50

THE WATER-VOLE.

I.

OUR VILLAGE HOUNDS.

Quiet life--Leisure hours--A winter pastime--A miscellaneous
pack--The bobtail, and his fight with an otter--The terrier,
and his friendship with fishermen--A family party--Expert
diving--Hunt membership, and the landlord as huntsman--Fast
and furious fun--A rival Hunt--The bobtail's death--The terrier's
eccentricities--A pleasant study begins--Brown rats--Yellow
ants--Brighteye's peculiarities--Evening sport 51-67

II.

THE BURROW IN THE RIVER BANK.

At dusk--A picturesque home--Main roads and lanes of the riverside
people--A heron's alertness--A rabbit's danger signal--The
reed-bed--The vole in fear--The wildest of the wild--Tell-tale
footprints--The significance of a blood-stain--A weasel's
ferocity--Maternal warnings--A rat-hunting spaniel--An invaded
sanctuary--The terrier's opportunity--The water-vole chatters
and sings--A gladsome life--Dangers sharpen intellect 68-82

III.

WILD HUNTING.

An otter-hunt--Fading afterglow--Spiritual influence of night--Lutra
and Brighteye--Brighteye's song--Chill waters--A beacon in
the gloom--A squirrel's derision--A silvery phantom--An old,
lean trout--Restless salmon--Change of quarters--Brighteye's
encounter with a "red" fish 83-98

IV.

SAVED BY AN ENEMY.

The "redd" in the gravel--In company with a water-shrew--Ravenous
trout--The salmon's attack--An otter appears--Brighteye's
bewilderment--Increasing vigilance--Playful minnows--A new
water-entrance--The winter granary--Careful harvesting--The
dipper's winter carol--The robin and the wren at vespers--Unsafe
quarters--Rats on the move--A sequestered pool--Icebound
haunts 99-115

V.

THE COURAGE OF FEAR.

The dawn--Restlessness of spring--A bold adventurer--A sharp
fight--Cleared pathways--Differences of opinion--A tight
snuggery--In defence of home--A monster rat--Temporary refuge--The
voles and the cannibal trout--Family troubles--A winter evening
in the village 116-129

THE FIELD-VOLE.

I.

HIDDEN PATHWAYS IN THE GRASS.

A pleasant wilderness--Pitying Nature--Hedgerow sentinels--The
story of the day--Familiar